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Arthur Smith

Baseball Written by James Tsitakis-Cecil

CSUB Baseball Wraps Up Season By Hosting CSUN

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – With a season-ending series against CSUN on the horizon, the Cal State Bakersfield baseball team will look to end the season on a high note and eclipse its win total from 2022, needing just one victory this weekend to do so. The Roadrunners have won their last two conference series, one against an especially tough Long Beach State squad, and will surely be using those as inspirations when coming up against the fourth-place Matadors.

Quotes from Head Coach Jeremy Beard:
  • "CSUN is an older team with several pieces playing well. They're very offensive, athletic on defense, and also pitch well. They run the bases with efficiency and have a strong approach along with their experience."
  • "We will need to play our best baseball to have a chance against one of the top teams in the conference. We've had a lot of missing pieces this season that were unexpected, and we have had to adapt just to make it work. I am proud of our guys for competing every series."
  • "To have any chance of going .500 in our Big West Conference series this year is a significant feat for our players heading into this final series. Winning it would be a substantial achievement for our ball-club."
This Weekend's Schedule:
  • vs CSUN
    • Thursday, May 25, 6:05 p.m. (PT)
    • Friday, May 26, 6:05 p.m. (PT)
    • Saturday, May 27, 1:05 p.m. (PT)
`Runner Notes
  • Cody Hendriks, who has come along well this season and supplanted other players in the third-base rotation to become a regular starter, having an outstanding last two series. Against UC Riverside and Baylor, the Dutch-Canadian lit up opposing pitchers with a 12-for-21 effort in just an eight-day span.
  • With a walk against Baylor, Nick Salas has reset the CSUB single-season record with 36 free passes. His career total is now 77, good for seventh all-time in the team's record book.
  • With his first start of 2023, Davonte Butler's career pitching appearances number moves to 67 games, inching closer to fourth all-time for CSUB. On another note, Gabe Ulloa needs one more appearance to crack the top-five for CSUB's single-season pitching appearances mark.
  • Holding batters to just a .217 average along with a 3.10 ERA, Matt Comnos has enjoyed a spectacular season from the mound, vastly improving on last year's numbers that saw him pitch with a 7.42 ERA and .317 opposing batting average. With a good start against CSUN, Comnos is still well-within range of a top-10 finish in CSUB's single-season ERA list.
  • A myriad of seniors will be honored on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. The list includes, in no particular order: Davonte Butler, James Bell, AJ Miller, Matt Comnos, David Roderick, Taylor Ott, Gabe Ulloa, Nic Anderson-Vine, Angel Saldivar, Trevor Pruitt, and Riley Kasper.
Scouting the Matadors
  • CSUN (31-17, 17-10 BW) is led by first-year head coach Eddie Cornejo.
  • The Matadors have enjoyed a bit of a renaissance season under their new head coach, thus far posting their best win total since 2016 and third-best conference win total since joining the Big West in 2001.
  • As one of CSUB's most storied opponents in its young history, CSUN used to be coached by Bill Kernen, arguably the most decorated `Runners coach, and altogether the two teams have seen each other 33 times in just 13 years of playing against each other.
  • Although the `Runners have just one win over the Matadors since joining the Big West, CSUB has beaten some perennially good teams in Long Beach State, Cal Poly, and Hawai'i this season. The `Runners will surely need to be at their best but still go into this final home series with every chance of coming away with some wins.
  • The Matador bats have been on-fire this year, with well over half the team batting above a .290 average and six players with at least 40 hits. CSUN leads the Big West with a .310 team batting average, but CSUB is nothing to be scoffed at with its own mid-standings .272 batting average.
  • Junior outfielder Jakob Simons, CSUN's best batter statistically, leads the Big West with a 1.132 OPS and sits fourth in the conference with 13 homers.
How to Follow the `Runners Individual game tickets for senior day are on sale and can be purchased on GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661.654.BLUE or 661.654.GOLD.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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Players Mentioned

Nic Anderson-Vine

#30 Nic Anderson-Vine

OF
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
James Bell

#19 James Bell

C/OF
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Matt Comnos

#29 Matt Comnos

LHP
6' 1"
Senior
L/L
Cody Hendriks

#38 Cody Hendriks

IF
6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
AJ Miller

#10 AJ Miller

OF/1B
6' 2"
Senior
L/L
Taylor Ott

#28 Taylor Ott

RHP
6' 2"
Senior
R/R
David Roderick

#39 David Roderick

RHP
6' 4"
Junior
R/R
Nick Salas

#11 Nick Salas

INF
5' 9"
Junior
R/R
Angel Saldivar

#18 Angel Saldivar

C
5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
Gabe Ulloa

#16 Gabe Ulloa

RHP
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Riley Kasper

#5 Riley Kasper

IF
6' 1"
Graduate Student
R/R
Trevor Pruitt

#14 Trevor Pruitt

RHP
5' 11"
Senior
R/R

Players Mentioned

Nic Anderson-Vine

#30 Nic Anderson-Vine

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
OF
James Bell

#19 James Bell

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
C/OF
Matt Comnos

#29 Matt Comnos

6' 1"
Senior
L/L
LHP
Cody Hendriks

#38 Cody Hendriks

6' 2"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
AJ Miller

#10 AJ Miller

6' 2"
Senior
L/L
OF/1B
Taylor Ott

#28 Taylor Ott

6' 2"
Senior
R/R
RHP
David Roderick

#39 David Roderick

6' 4"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Nick Salas

#11 Nick Salas

5' 9"
Junior
R/R
INF
Angel Saldivar

#18 Angel Saldivar

5' 9"
Redshirt Junior
R/R
C
Gabe Ulloa

#16 Gabe Ulloa

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Riley Kasper

#5 Riley Kasper

6' 1"
Graduate Student
R/R
IF
Trevor Pruitt

#14 Trevor Pruitt

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
RHP
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